Wirdheim lands Jaguar test role

Jaguar has announced Bjorn Wirdheim as official test and third driver for 2004 after recent tests with the team. The 23 year-old Swede previously raced in F3 and competed in F3000 the last two seasons. He was fourth overall in 2002 and won the championship last year. Wirdheim tried out for BAR and Jordan before the tests with Jaguar.

F3000 champion Bjorn Wirdheim.

Photo by FIA.

"There are some really good people in the team and I have settled in quite quickly. There is a lot of work ahead but I am excited about this and look forward to contributing to the continued development of the R5".

Managing director David Pitchforth said: "I am pleased to be able to welcome Bjorn to the team at this time and I know that he will be a great asset in the team moving forward."

"We have all been working incredibly hard on the R5 and the added benefit of a third driver will be a great help both to the development team and of course to our drivers Mark Webber and Christian Klien"

Wirdheim will be able to take part in the Friday practice sessions at Grands Prix, having not previously raced in F1. Jordan and Minardi are yet to announce a test driver for this season, if they decide to take one on. Although Sauber officially has Neel Jani, it's not planning on taking him to every race and may use Ferrari's Luca Badoer instead.